I didn’t get out on the river for the forth. Oh well, just a statement and not crying. That is about to change. One of the things that made this country great was innovation. I ain’t got XYZ, so how do I build XYZ? How can I make it better? How can I build it with less components? How do I do this with available materials? You tear into the project and find another way to get it done. So I got out my sketch pad and tore into it.

One of the old blacksmith rules of thumb was if you can’t buy it cheaper, then build it yourself. First up was a paddle float. It’s a really nice piece of equipment for the newb or the older paddlers. They want 3 payments of 40 plus bucks to sell you a pool noodle with covering about 8 inches thick. What is wrong with this picture? Most office stores can sell you a piece of suitable foam for you to carve in to the desired shape cover with a suitable sized gear bag for a cover and install center on your paddle. I shouldn’t have to draw it out long hand for you. It’s not rocket science or brain surgery.

Second up was to beat the value of an 200 beater kayak from your favorite bargain outlet. This I smoked it. I destroyed it. I took the best features to 18 different boats and using these elements came up with a Destroyer. All it took was for me to get pissed off. I wish I had this hull ten years ago when I could have really wrung it out. This boat is aggressive all the way, bow to stern. It will be using the Titebond-2 glue (stitch and glue), green (gag) alternative fibers and cloth, Multi-laminations through out. It uses stuff from my wood pile. I’m using a multi-chine hull with a grind plate and a deep V entry. I’m optimizing for my lazy paddle style. I went from drawing to 2 foot model, It tracks like, WOW! I’m not letting the rest out of the bag I’ll let the pictures do the talking as soon as they are available. I have the time, so why not build instead of invest in a mediocre product? I’ll have a buddy help me move the work bench into position tomorrow.

There’s a lot of creeks to crawl around these parts and this is been the wettest spring/summer in recent history. We have had double the rainfall this year vs the last decade. I’ve had couple of good developments recently in other areas, so stay tuned.

4 Responses to The Mother of Invention

Sounds a bit like a beefed up CLC boat. Buddy of mine got cheap plans for discontinued 3 person CLC kayak. Redesigned it for 2 people and built it with 50% heavier hull plywood. Turned out to be a great expedition boat. Been in service over 12 years now.

It’s like the rivers are back in spring flood. The Androscoggin can always be paddled, but the smaller rivers can still be run. Never used to happen this late. Hot and wet.

CLC has a good product, I like them. I would love to see yer buddies boat. I do like the Huntington harbor boat too. Then there’s the Jam 8, sweet little boat. Really under appreciated. All of them will do the Middle Yough (Class II), Casselman (Class I-III), and the rest of the Yough after Bruner Run III+. Now the Jam will do the whole water shed (1-5 ) .including the Lower Yough (1-4 ), with no worries. My worries are getting down to the easy water in one piece. A ten footer is about the max length to use on the tributaries. Now the river is running so well that all us old guys are coming out of the wood work and you can see more wood boats on the river now, than almost any preceding year/s. Many years actually. A wood boat needs to flex, It needs to track, and it needs to carve. Plastic yaks and play boats don’t carve for shit. They get into a washing machine area and get chewed up and pissed on. They end up swimming out. Now, I on the other hand will lean back and ride it like a bronco machine and then lean forward and into the turn and plant my paddle on the inside like a DOT worker and get spit right out. It’s a lotta fun. That’s what I mean by ride it like ya stole it. You own it. The trick is a balance between enough boat for the white water and good lines for the rest of the river. So you can enjoy the rest of the ride. The play boats aren”t worth spit in flat water. Most cheap plasti-yaks have mold ripples on the “grind plate” or worse no “grind plate ” at all. Just cheap molded chines.
My main problem today besides the heat is figuring out how to warp what I want from a sheet of ply. I need to add my thanks here for you, Sixbears and Mayberry for all the input from ya’ll.

You are welcome. Us small boat nuts have to stick together. Sent you a couple pics of my friend’s boat. Sorry I didn’t have any of it on the hard.

The Androscoggin has rapids followed by flat water, over and over again. You want a boat that can handle the rapids, but isn’t like paddling a bathtub across the flats. When I was a kid I’d run the rapids hard in open canoes, then use the calmer sections to empty the water out of the boat. Now I’m just as happy to run them dry.

I like your buddies boat, but I wouldn’t use it around here, but for some of the larger lakes. Yough lake or Cheat lake maybe. On one trip we had to pull off and help a guy with a similar boat just above Dawson. With the whole river he has to find the rock we call Mr. T’s head. We rigged a patch out of luan, gorilla snot, and duck tape. He made it down to perry and loaded up for the trip back east. He ain’t been back. Another guy from our group sent us a picture of his boat and we sent him a picture of where we were planning to go the following weekend and he just quit. go figure.